Experiment 1: Newton's Second Law
Analysis
Fixed Total Mass
- Calculate the mean time for each trial, and then use those values to calculate the acceleration for each trial.
- Make a graph of your measured acceleration versus the force (msg)
- Is the shape of your graph in agreement with Newton's second law? Why or why not?
- What should the slope of your graph be? Hint: look at equation 1.1. Calculate the percent error between the accepted value and the your slope
Fixed Acceleration
- Calculate the mean time for each trial, and then use those values to calculate the acceleration for each trial
- Make a graph of your measured acceleration versus the inverse of the total mass (1/mg+ms)
- Is the shape of your graph in agreement with Newton's second law? Why or why not?
- What should the theoretical slope of your line be? Calculate the percent error for your slope value.
Measuring Velocity
- Calculate the acceleration for each trial; now compare your results with the acceleration you obtained for each from the fixed total mass part.
- Between the methods for finding acceleration for the fixed total mass, which one is more accurate? Why?